The Oyo State Government has confirmed an improvement in reported cases of malnutrition among children in 33 local government areas of the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, made this known at the closing ceremony of a two-week training for primary health workers jointly organized by the Department of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Bank and the ANRiN Project in Ibadan on Monday.
He pointed out that the training, which has 684 participants, is divided into two groups.
Also in her speech, the representative of the Director of Nutrition of the Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs. Ladidi Bako, represented by Douglas Emmanuel, commended Oyo State for its improvement in maternal, infant and child nutrition, MIYCN, among other states.
She said: “This event is aimed at eradicating MICYN in Oyo State and I must say that Oyo State is doing well, Oyo is on top now. The event aims to spread the gospel of exclusive breastfeeding for children up to six months and the importance of nutrition in children.”
Ajetunmobi stated that training is important to address maternal and child nutrition in the country. He highlighted the importance of training because of the importance of nutrition in a child's first 1,000 days.
He further added that the training is being carried out for primary health care workers with the hope that they will train people in their work environment and in the communities because they are the frontliners and the closest to the people.
“This training is important because a child's first 1,000 days are very important, and that is what is emphasized here because any child who is not raised well at that stage will be affected in the future,” he said.
Also speaking, Dr. Khadijat Alarape, Director Nutrition, Primary Health Care Board and Project Coordinator of ARIN, stated that the training aims to train primary health care workers on new updates on knowledge and practices of treatment expected of healthcare workers across the state.
He noted that the training, which has 684 participants, is divided into two batches and advised the participants to implement all the knowledge acquired during the training in their various health centers.
In an interview with Tribune Online, one of the participants, Florence Babalola, from the Afijio local government, pledged to disseminate the knowledge acquired in her health center and to the people of the community.